Nothing To Lose
by DobbyRocksSocks
Summary: He doesn't want to betray his friends, but for his mother, he'd do anything. (Warning for mentions of cancer and character death).


**Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise. **

**Challenges listed at the bottom. **

**Word Count** \- 2035

**Written for Hogwarts Assignment 6** \- Men's History, Task 1 - Genre: Tragedy

**Warning for:** Mentions of cancer, and character death.

_Beta'd by Sophie. _

* * *

**Nothing To Lose **

* * *

It started with a cough.

Peter didn't worry, because coughs were common, right? Certainly nothing to panic over. His mother waved off his suggestion that she visit the doctor, and that was that.

Except the cough didn't go away, and eventually Peter came home to an ambulance parked outside the house and his mother on a stretcher with an oxygen mask stretched across her face.

Peter climbed into the ambulance before it could leave, and after strapping himself in, he gripped him mum's hand between both of his.

The paramedics were talking over his head, but he had no idea what they were saying. The medical terms meant nothing to him, though the grave expression on their faces struck fear into his chest.

His mum was going to be fine.

He had to believe that.

…

"How's she doing?" Sirius asked, slumped in his seat in the conservatory of Peter's house. James and Remus were perched on the window bench while Peter sat on the foot stool he'd grabbed from the corner.

On the little table in the middle of them, a plate of nachos, a dish Lily had sent along with James. She was always fretting that Peter wasn't eating enough.

Peter shrugged, his lips twisting unhappily.

"The doctors have said all we can do now is to make her comfortable and pray for a miracle. The cancer has progressed much faster than they were anticipating and… I can't lose her," Peter said, ending on a whisper, his hands clenching in his lap. "She's all I've got."

"You've got us," Sirius said quietly. "You know we'll help any way we can, Pete."

Peter nodded. He appreciated the sentiment, he really did. The four of them had been friends for so long, and he knew that they cared about his mum.

"Thanks. I, uh. How's the house coming?" he asked, looking at James. He needed something to distract him, anything that wasn't about illness or death.

James sighed. "Riddle is still making it difficult. He still wants the land that we want to build on, and he's got the ear of Fudge."

"Fudge?"

"Mayor Fudge," James replied, rolling his eyes. "He's seeing the pound signs that Riddle is offering up, but he can't _force _us to sell the land, so he's making it really difficult for us to start building."

Peter shook his head. "The greed of some people is ridiculous."

"You're not wrong," Remus agreed. "The lengths that people will go to for their own personal gain never fail to astound me."

Sirius changed the subject to the latest football results and Peter let his friends' voices wash over him. For just a few minutes, it was nice to pretend that everything was normal.

…

"May I join you?"

Peter blinked at the man who'd joined him. He was sitting in the corner booth of the little pub at the bottom of his road, avoiding his return home until the last possible minute.

It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with his mum, but it was hard seeing her in so much pain, and just a shadow of her normally vibrant self.

"Sorry mate, I'm not really looking for company," he said, looking down at his untouched pint of lager. He'd bought it more out of a desire to hide than because he actually wanted it.

"You want to hear what I have to say."

Peter very much doubted that, but he waved his hand to the other side of the booth. He waited silently for the man to talk, never once looking up at him.

"My name is Lucius Malfoy," the man began. Peter rolled his eyes, because he really didn't care what the man's name was. "I work for Tom Riddle."

Peter looked up sharply, frowning. "What would Tom Riddle want with me?"

"I believe that you know he desires the land in Godric's Hollow that your friends own?"

Peter nodded silently.

"He believes that you can help him. It would be mutually beneficial, of course."

"Tell him I don't want his money," Peter muttered, shaking his head. He'd never betray his friends like that, and certainly not for money.

"He's not offering money," Lucius replied, his lips tilting up slightly. "He's offering a way to help your mother."

Peter blinked. "There is no help for her. The doctors—"

"The doctors in this country are woefully understaffed," Lucius interrupted smoothly. "Mr Riddle is offering to have your mother taken to a private retreat in Switzerland, where they practice new and innovative treatments for seemingly hopeless cases. He believes they will be able too, if not make your mother better, prolong her life and the quality of it."

Peter's fingers twitched, and he winced when he saw Lucius' eyes flicker to them. His mother was his weakness. How Tom Riddle had found that out, he had no idea, but it mattered little in the long run.

"What would he have me do?"

"Given how close you are to the Potters, he believes it would be easy for you to trick them into signing over the land. He will, of course, pay them for it after the fact, but he needs their signatures."

Peter swallowed hard. "And he'll help my mum?"

"He will."

…

"You deserve my best," Peter whispered, stroking him mum's hand. She slept on, undisturbed by his words. "That's why I have to do this. I know you wouldn't like it, _I_ don't like it, but… it's the only way I can get you help."

The betrayal would be worth it, if he could save her life. Maybe James and Lily, and Remus and Sirius as well, would understand later. When his mum was doing well. Maybe they'd see why he didn't have a choice.

He had it all planned out, the false papers for them to sign, the web of lies he'd created to explain away the necessity. He was playing on their love of him, and their wish to help him with his mother.

With co-signatories, to ensure he didn't default on payments, he would tell them that he could get his mother into a home that would make her last days more comfortable. They would need to put the land on it, as a bond, and he had no doubt that they would.

They'd never suspect he was working for Riddle; why would they? He was one of their best friends.

Peter felt sick.

…

He handed the papers over with shaking hands.

Tom Riddle accepted them with a snake-like smile, his eyes full of triumph. "Thank you very much, Peter," he said, looking over the papers. "You did very well."

"You'll help my mum now, right?"

"Of course we will. Someone will be at your house tomorrow to see to it," Riddle confirmed.

Peter nodded and turned to leave. He felt absolutely awful about betraying his friends, but the promise of help for his mum was enough to balance out his emotions.

He wasn't looking forward to the moment they found out what he'd done. As much as he tried to convince himself that one day, they'd understand and forgive him, he knew that realistically, the probably wouldn't.

His mother's health had cost him the best—and only—friends, he'd ever or would ever have.

He had to look to the future though; and a future with his mum still in it was worth everything.

…

"What do you mean, she's too sick to travel?" Peter demanded.

The doctor that Riddle had sent to prepare his mother for Switzerland shrugged and Peter frowned.

"Are you… are you even a doctor?"

"Sure I am," the man replied, smirking. "And my medical opinion is that your mother is too ill to travel."

The 'doctor' moved towards the door, and Peter felt like the room was closing in on him as realisation suddenly dawned on him.

"There… there never was a Switzerland health retreat, was there?"

The man didn't even bother to look back, he simply allowed the door to swing shut behind him.

The quiet bang was deafening.

…

"How could you?"

Lily was sobbing into James shoulder. James and Sirius were both glaring at Peter.

They'd come to the house when Riddle had turned up on the land, his papers of ownership handed out to then with his greasy charm. He'd offered them money, a pitiful amount, to show how _good _he was, since technically, he didn't have to pay them anything.

"He… he said he'd help my mum," Peter whispered. "I had too. You don't… _I can't lose her_, I told you that!"

"Was it worth it, Peter?" Sirius snarled. "Was it worth betraying your friends, to end up with nothing, on the empty promises of a soulless monster?"

"Of course it wasn't," Peter replied, eyes flicking from one to the other. "Of course it wasn't. But… I had to try."

"He's left us with less than nothing," James said softly. He didn't look angry now, more lost and… broken.

It was much harder to face than anger would have been.

"You left us with nothing," James added sadly. "I thought you were our friend, Peter. I guess… I guess I was wrong."

Peter wanted to deny the words, wanted to say something, anything that would make it better, but James was already turning away, Lily wrapped in his arms, and Sirius was following them.

He'd known, hadn't he, that he'd lose them?

He hadn't expected it to hurt quite like this.

…

He straightened his tie in the mirror, and wiped the remnants of the milk from the corner of his lips. He'd planned to make tea when he went to the kitchen, but instead had just drank straight from the milk carton.

He didn't even have the care to wait for the kettle to boil.

The black suit that slightly swamped his frame looked unkempt and a bit ratty, but it was the only suit he had.

"You can get through this," he told himself.

It didn't help.

Even he could hear the doubt in his tone.

The funeral was as dismal as any, and Peter couldn't quite focus on the words of the vicar. His eyes never strayed from the photo of his mother on top of the closed lid of the coffin. She looked so beautiful in it, her eyes sparkling with life and the widest smile on her face.

He sat on the front bench alone.

Around the small crematorium, friends of hers sat in little clusters, but Peter was alone.

It was only when he didn't see any of them, that he realised he'd had a small hope that his friends—ex-friends now, he supposed—would be there.

They weren't.

…

"Peter."

Peter looked up from the little plot of his mothers to see Tom Riddle standing above him.

"What do you want?" he asked tiredly. He knew he should be angry at the man, should hate him and be absolutely furious with him in fact, but he couldn't find the energy for it.

"You did good work," Riddle said quietly. "I thought to offer you a permanent place amongst my people."

"Why would I want to do that? You ruined my life. Was it all just a game to you?"

"No, Peter. I didn't force you to do what you did. I only presented you with the opportunity. Besides, you're alone," he added, waving at the graveyard. "You have nothing to lose by working for me."

"Nothing to lose," Peter repeated softly. He couldn't argue with that, could he? He had nothing left to care about. He shivered suddenly.

He hadn't realised it was going to be such a chilly day when he'd left the house that morning, and he hadn't picked up a jacket.

Riddle held a card out, and Peter reached up to take it.

"Think about it, won't you?"

Not answering, Peter clutched the card in his hand and looked back down at the little plaque that commemorated his mother's life.

He regretted what he'd done, there was no doubt about that, but… he flipped the card over in his fingers.

Maybe, if he went to work for Riddle, he'd be a little less alone.

It was small comfort.

* * *

**Written for: **

Assorted Appreciation - 19. "You deserve my best."

Trope - 13. Future

Showtime - 5. "Nothing to lose."

Attic - 6. Tragedy

Press Play - 1. Tie

Liza Loves - 23. Any of the marauders

Scamander - 17. Repeating something

Film Festival - 11. Game

Marvel - 1. Greed

Funfair - Tasty Time Saver - Frozen Mud Pie - Dish / Marauders / Chilly

Horror Movie - Title - 8. Regretting something

Galleon - Milk

Trick or Treat - Trick - Spider: Web of lies.

365\. 297. Betrayal


End file.
